Sheet delivery apparatus



April 19, 1949. w, BRUKER I 2,467,423

SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS Filed March 19, 1945 lav y A TTORMEKS.

AM AM' Patented Apr. 19, 1949 SHEET DELIVERY APPARATUS Hobart W. Bruker, Bordentown, N. J assignor to George W. Swift, Jr., Inc., Bordentown, N. J., a corporation of New Jersey Application March 19, 1945, Serial No. 583,565 I 4 Claims. (Cl. 271-69) In the manufacture'of corrugated paperboard, the machines which cut thecontinuously traveling web of paperboard into blanks of desired length are customarily provided with traveling belts or like conveyors which deliver the cut blanks successively from the machine, after which the blanks pass to a suitable takeoff point located at the end or side of the machine, whichever may be the more convenient. It is usually desired to run the web through the cutoff machine at a speed at high as practical, and the conveyor mechanism usually runs at a surface speed nearly double that of the web, with the result that the conveyor mechanism ejects the cut blanks at a high velocity which may be of the order of 600 to 800 ft. perminute. The ejected blanks usually pass to a receiving stand, truck or conveyor from whence they are conejected at this high speed theyare likely to bounce around out of proper position and relation, requiring extra labor to reposition or realign them properly with respect to each other. The blanks must. be delivered without imposing substantial frictional, bending ,or crumpling stresses upon them, since the paperboard material otherwise may be injured, and excessive shocks or strains in the mechanism also should be avoided.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a mechanism which will operate smoothly and reliably to slow down the velocity of the successively delivered relatively stiff and unbendable blanksunder the above conditions of operation, and cause them to be gently and accurately deposited without injury at the desired point of delivery. While the invention has been evolved specifically for use in connection with the delivery of corrugated paperboard sheets as above described, it should be understood that it may be applied to the delivery of other sheets in so far as the operat ng conditions and requirements may be analogous, and within the scope permitted by the prior art.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious and-in part specifically referred to in the description hereinafter contained which, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. discloses a preferred form of apparatus capable of operating in accordance with the invention; such disclosure, however, should be considered as merely illustrative of the principles of the invention in its broader aspects. In the drawings-- Fig.-1 is a longitudinal sectional view, somewhat diagrammatic, showing the invention as applied to the delivery end of acutoff machine.

Fig. 2 is a simplified schematic view illustrating the action of the slow-down mechanism shown in Fig. 1.

, running around pulleys Ill and ll.

-ducted to the next succeeding operation, and if 2 At the left of Fig. 1 I have shown in simplifled form, the delivery end of a cutoff machine of the character above described, having a pair of rotary cutoff knives l and 2 between which the continuous web 3 of paperboard is continu ously fed, to cause the web to be severed into a series of successive blanks 4, 4a of the desired length. To withdraw the blanks from the path of travel of the Web, an appropriate conveyor mechanism is provided, which is indicated in Fig. 1 as consisting of an appropriate number of upper conveyor belts 5 running around guide pulleys 6, l and 8, and lower conveyor belts 9 Since the above parts may be constructed and driven in manner well known to the art, they need not be described at greater length. The shaft I! may be understood as being positively driven in appropriate manner (not shown) to operate the belts at the desired surface speed, and as previously stated the surface speed of the conveyor belts above described is substantially In accordance with the present invention I provide on opposite sides of the path of travel of the sheets ejected by the conveyor above described, rollers or equivalent sheet retarding devices which are disposed on opposite sides of the path of travel of the advancing blanks projected forwardly by the conveyor, and which are at all times positively spaced from each other a distance suflicient to prevent a blank from'being positively gripped between such sheet-retarding devices, so long as the blank is engaged between and is being forwardly projected by the belts 5 and 9 of the conveyor. Thus so long as a blank is being positively fed forward by the conveyor, it may pass between the sheet retarding rollers or the like without any substantial retarding or buckling effect in the machine which might tend to buckle or otherwise injure the blank, but as soon as any given blank has advanced sufflciently to free it from engagement with the above mentioned conveyor, said blank is caused to tilt downwardly sufiicientlyto bring its ofposite surfaces into substantial frictional engagement withthe blank retarding rollers or the like which are disposed on opposite sides of the path of travel of the blanks as above mentioned. Under these conditions a substantial and progressively effective retarding efiect is produced on the advancingblank, which markedly reduces its .velocity of travel as finally ejected fromthe slow-down mechan sm above briefly described. In this way it has been found i that the forward velocity of the ejected blanks,

from the conveyor above mentioned, may be smoothly and reliably reduced to almost zero forward speed if desired, with the result that the ejected blanks drop gently down onto the table, truck, conveyor or the like which is used to collect them at the point of final delivery. Also each successive blank will be accurately positioned when deposited as above described, without shock or bouncing troubles as heretofore encountered. V

Particularly when the blanks are being ejected from between the conveyor belts and 9, at very high speeds as above described, I prefer to space the above mentioned slow-down rollers or the like a distance from each other, which will cause them to have a light frictional engagement with the opposite surfaces of each blank while the latter is still being projected forwardly by the conveyor. At slower speeds the distance between the slow-down rollers may be somewhat greater than the thickness of the blanks, but at higher stantial frictional engagement with the slowdown rollers, during which instant the blank is without substantial restraint or guidance, and at the higher speeds the blanks may move somewhat irregularly by their own momentum during this instant, unless the above light frictional engagement is maintained. However this frictional engagement should be very light, until the blanks tilt into more positive engagement with the slow-down rolls as above described, in order to prevent buckling or other injuries to the blanks.

In the embodiment of the invention shown in Fig. l the slow-down mechanism includes a lower transverse roller I3 carried by a cross shaft I4, which roller is positively driven at a surface speed substantiallyslower than that of the conveyor belts i and 9 previously mentioned, the roller I3 operating in conjunction with an upper transverse idler roller I5 carried by a cross shaft I6. The rollers I3 and I5 are at all times positively spaced from each other, a distance great enough to prevent positive gripping of the blank 4a between the rollers, so long as such blank is traveling in the plane of the adjacent surfaces of belts 3 and 9. Thus so long as the blank is being positively advanced at high speed by the conveyor above described, such blank travels without substantial buckling or retarding effect between the rollers I3 and I5. But as soon as the blank has been projected beyond the conveyor constituted by belts 5 and 9, it is caused to tilt from the dotted position shown in Fig. 2, into the inclined position shown in the full lines of Fig. 2, in which latter position it engages with substantial pressure against the adjacent surfaces of the roller I3 and I5.

In the illustrated form,this tilting movement is produced by the weight of the part of the blank which has passed beyond the rollers I3 and I5. Under these conditions the roller I3 exerts a continuous and positive retarding effect 'on the forward travel of blank la, as does also the roller I5 which as above stated is an idler roll, but which roll is caused to be rotated by roller I3 through the medium of the frictional engagement of the surfaces of blank la with rollers I 3 and it. Thus as the blanks continue propriate receiving structure, whereon they will be accurately positioned.

As above mentioned the speed of travel of the blanks la is substantially higher than the speed of travel of web 3, so that the blanks successively ejected from between the conveyor belts I and 3 have substantial gaps between them. Thus when a given blank is being slowed down between rollers I3 and I! as above described, the next succeeding blank which is still moving at high velocity will not catch up on and collide with the more slowly moving blank ahead of it.

In the form of the invention under discussion the roller I3 is driven from the main drive of the machine through a sprocket II on shaft I2 and chain 20 which engages a sprocket 2I on an auxiliary cross shaft 22. A further sprocket 23 on shaft 22 is connected by a chain 24 to a sprocket 25 on the shaft I4 which carries the positively driven slow-down roller I3 abovedescribed. If desired the speed of the roller I3 may be adjusted by appropriate speed changing devices such as sprockets of difierent ratios or other more easily adjustable speed changing devices (not shown) which are well known in the art.

In the form shown the cross shaft II which carries the upper idler slow-down roller i3, is supported by bell crank levers 23 (Fig. 1) at the sides of the machine, which levers are pivoted about short studs 21 at the corresponding sides of the machine. To positively space the rollers I3 and I5 the proper distance from each other, as is highly important to satisfactory operation, each of the arms 26 is provided with an adjustable screw 28 (Fig. 1) which rests against a block 29 rotatably mounted in the main side frame of the machine, and adjustable by means of a hand wheel '30 to position any one of its four plane faces underneath the screw 23. This particular arrangement is convenient for use in operating upon corrugated paperboard of various customarily used thickness, so that if the screw 23 be properly adjusted to secure the correct spacing of rolls I3 and II for one of these standard thicknesses, the block' 23 may be readily shifted by hand wheel 30 to adjust the spacing of rollers I 3 and I5 to the proper amounts for paperboards of other thicknesses frequently required. The blocks 23may be mounted on a common shaft 3| connected to hand wheel 33 and of course refined adjustments of the screws 23 may be made as needed at any particular time.

' The mechanism is preferably arranged to per-. 'mit the rollers I3 and I l to spread apart relatively widely whenever 9. splice in the sheets of the blank creates an abnormal thickness of materlal which must be passed between rollers I3 and I3. In the particular form shown the weight pressed between the head of bolt 32a and lu 32b so as to yieldi s y urselever 2'8 and roller ii to swing in a clockwise direction as the parts appear in Fig. 1, until the screws 28 rest against their respective blocks 29. A stop nut 32d on bolt 32a holds the spring 32 under compression as aforesaid, and may be adjusted to regulate the amount of compression in said spring. But whenever an abnormal thickness of material reaches the rollers l3 and I5, the upper roller 15 will lift temporarily, sufliciently to permit the material to pass through without injury to the blank or to any of the parts of the machine. After the abnormal thickness has passed the rollers, the upper roller l5 resumes its normal position in which it remains correctly spaced from roller lit for the particular normal thickness of blank which is then passing through the machine.

In the illustrated embodiment a table I! is shown at the right of Fig. 1 as being located in a position appropriate to receive the blanks successively ejected from between rollers l3 and i5, and an appropriate transverse stop member I! may be employed if desired, and positioned wherever desired longitudinally of the machine to limit the forward travel of the ejected blanks.

The machine will usually require no adjustment of the spacing of the slow down rollers from the conveyor to conform to blanks of different lengths; in other words blanks of substantially different lengths may be slowed down satisfactorily without shifting the slow-down rollers toward or from the conveyor.

While the invention has been disclosed as carried out by mechanism of the above described specific construction, it should be understood that changes may be made therein without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. Sheet delivery apparatus of the character described including means for successively and positively advancing a series of relatively stiff and unbendable blanks. and a slow-down mechanism located beyond the delivery end of said blank advancing means, said mechanism including transverse rollers disposed on opposite sides of the path of travel of blanks advanced by said advancing means, means at all times spacing said rollers adistance great enough to prevent the blanks from being positively gripped between said rollers while in engagement with said blank advancing means, said rollers being rotatable at surface speed less than the speed of feed of said advancing means, said apparatus being constructed and arranged to cause the blanks projected between said rollers by the blank advancing means to tilt into more positive engagement with the adjacent surfaces of said rollers after passing beyond said advancing means, to slow down the velocity of travel of the blanks ejected from between said rollers.

2. Sheet delivery apparatus of the character described including means for successively and positively advancing a series of relatively still and unbendable blanks, and a slow-down mechanism located beyond the delivery end of said blank advancing means, said mechanism including a transverse roller disposed on one side of the by said advancing means, means at all times spacing said rollers a distance great enough to prevent the blanks from being positively. gripped between said rollers while in engagement with said sheet advancing mechanism, said apparatus being constructed and arranged to cause the blanks projected between said rollers by the blank advancing means to tilt into more positive engagement withthe adjacent surfaces of said rollers after passing beyond said advancing means, to cause said rollers to slow down the velocity of travel of the blanks ejected from between said rollers.

3. Sheet delivery apparatus of the character described including means for successively and positively advancing a series of relatively stiff and unbendable blanks, and a slow-down mechanism located beyond the delivery end of said blank advancing means, said mechanism including a transverse roller disposed on one side of the path of travel of blanks advanced by said advancing means, means for positively driving said roller at a surface 'speed less than the speed of feed of said advancing means, a transverse blank retarding member disposed on the opposite side of the path of travel of blanks advanced by said advancing means. means at all times spacing said retarding member from said roller a distance great enough path of travel of blanks advanced by said advancing means, said roller being driven at a speed less than the speed of feed of said advancing means, and a transverse idler roll disposed on the opposite side of the path of travel of blanks advanced advancing means, said mechanism to prevent the blanks from being positively gripped between said roller and said blank retarding member while in engagement with said sheet advancing means, said apparatus being constructed and arranged to cause the blanks projected between said rollers by the blank advancing means to tilt into more positive engagement with the adjacent surfaces of said rollers and said sheet retarding member after passing beyond said advancing means to slow down the velocity of travel of the blanks ejected from between said roller and said blank retarding member.

4. Sheet delivery apparatus of the character described including means for successively and positively advancing a series of relatively stiff and unbendable blanks, and a slow-down mechanism located beyond the delivery end of said sheet including transverse blank retarding members disposed on opposite sides of the path of travel of blanks advanced by said advancing means, means at all times spacing said blank retarding members a distance great enough to prevent theblanks from being positively gripped between said retarding members while in engagement with said sheet advancing means, said apparatus being constructed and arranged to cause the blanks projected between said blank retarding members by the blank advancing means to tilt into more positive engagement with the adjacent surfaces of said retarding members after passing beyond said advancing means to slow down the velocity of travel of the blanks ejected from between said retarding members.

HOBART W. BRUKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,736,482 Broadmayer Nov. 19, 1929 1,752,648 Matthews Apr. 1, 1930 1,752,881 Manson Apr. 1, .1930 1,852,590 Sieg Apr. 5, 1932 

